Subj: RESIGNATION
by LeoDiabla
Summary: Horatio recieves Calleigh's letter of resignation. What triggered it, and what will he do now?


Title: Subj: Resignation Author: Dylan Spoilers: None Disclaimer: I own jack except the plot.  
  
(A/N) It was 10:38 p.m when I wrote this...I just finished listening to this song and this story plot just hit me, and I had to jot it down. I'd like to thank everyone for their support during my hard time, you guys really helped. Thank you. About 'The Fake Engagement', I'll try to get Chapter 6 up soon, but I'm kind of having a block, so bear with me here. Toodles!  
  
Subj: Resignation [1/1]  
  
Horatio ran a hand through his red hair, emitting a frustrated groan. His weary blue eyes scanned over the first few lines of the letter he held in his hand.  
  
To: Lieutenant Horatio Caine From: Calleigh Duquesne Subj: Resignation  
  
Horatio shut his eyes, allowing the cool breeze, of midnight air, from his open window wash over his office and himself, refreshing his tired soul.  
  
His mind raced, sorting out the events that had happened. So much had happened in the wee hours of the morning.  
  
First, Horatio didn't have enough evidence to hold against a criminal, letting a rapist walk free. He had, then, been notified that Suzie had, once again, disappeared with Madison.  
  
Then, leaving now time for Horatio to search for the two females, he had received this letter from Calleigh, informing him that she was leaving the team.  
  
He rubbed his eyes. She was leaving *him*. Calleigh Duquesne was leaving Horatio Caine. He never realized how hard Calleigh's resignation would hit him.  
  
'Guess you didn't know how much Bullet Girl's expertise meant to you,' his inner conscious taunted him, but Horatio knew that wasn't the case.  
  
It went deeper than just her work and knowledge of ballistics. He felt it during their first meeting, through the bright smile she offered him, even before she knew who he was.  
  
He figured the brush-off he had given her the morning before triggered the letter. She had caught him as he was leaving to search a suspects house and was about to say something when he, ever so brusquely, cut her off, claiming he had no time to spare.  
  
That wasn't fully true, Horatio admitted to himself ruefully. He was scared...unsure. He *had* noticed the sparks igniting between them, produced by just a glance. But he was terrible cautious and eventually grown a hard, impenetrable shell around his heart, hiding himself from the loving nature that was Calleigh.  
  
He stood abruptly, his chair thumping against the floor. But the noise didn't matter to him, due to the fact that he was the only one on his floor.  
  
Not bothering to turn the lights off, he merely shrugged into his jacket, slipped on his trademark sunglasses, and began to make his way to his Hummer, resolving to tell Calleigh how he really felt, even if she didn't return his feelings.  
  
When he turned on the car, the radio automatically switched on, letting the slow song of a male singing a country tune.  
  
He smiled ironically; Calleigh had switched his usual news station to her country channel, when he had offered to drop her home after a long day at work.  
  
Just as the song ended, Horatio pulled into the familiar parking lot of Calleigh's apartment. Grabbing the resignation letter, he strode out of the vehicle and made his way through the well-known path to Calleigh's door.  
  
Lowering his hand after knocking on the door, he hesitated; the reality of what he was doing smacking him in the face.  
  
What was he going to say? Whatever it was, he had no time to review it, because the door opened and Calleigh stood before him, one hand on the doorknob, and the other on her hip.  
  
Her body was bathed in the light glow from the only light in her apartment, the television. He could see a small tub of ice cream with a metal spoon sticking out from the top, on a table in front of the barely audible electronical box.  
  
Her eyes were wide with surprise, and she glanced at her watch. "Horatio...it's 3:00 in the morning!"  
  
Horatio nodded, wary of taking his sunglasses off, not knowing how Calleigh would respond. "I...I know, and I apologize." He began, momentarily surprised at his hesitation.  
  
He motioned to his hand that held the resignation letter, "This is unacceptable." His steady tone hid his jittering nerves, and his heart clenched as Calleigh took on a look of indignation.  
  
"Why?" She demanded, "Apparently, I'm just a worker with a wide knowledge of ballistics, and nothing more? What do you think, that I can't make it without the team? Without *you*?" She gave him a smile, one none of her usual warmth, but one of weariness. "Well, you thought wrong, Lieutenant."  
  
She began to shut her door, but Horatio wouldn't let her go so easy. He placed his foot in between the door and swallowed. It was now or never.  
  
"Calleigh, please." His voice broke, and he looked away, ashamed of his vulnerability. Calleigh raised her hands, and gently removed his sunglasses.  
  
"What...?" She asked, her words full of pain, her face suddenly free of all anger, and now of hesitational longing.  
  
"You can't leave,"Horatio continued, meeting her gaze finally. "You think I'm here at your door at 3:00 in the morning to ask you not to leave the team? Sure I don't want you to leave the team. But I don't want you to leave *me*."  
  
He paused, taking a calming breath. "I..." he searched her eyes with his own, searching for some sort of emotion. "I need you...you're the reason I come to work everyday, to see your smiling face. To hear you rant about some moron who cut you off on the highway. About all the problems in your life. So I can help you solve them." He grazed her cheek with his thumb, "So I can be a part of your life.  
  
He dropped his hand, looking away; down, trying to avoid her gaze. "But if you still want to resign...that's up to you."  
  
He was about to turn, defeated, when a smaller hand caught the one holding the letter. "That's exactly what I've been wanting to hear ever since." She said, taking the now meaningless letter from him, and tearing it up in little pieces.  
  
He faced her again, and drew her close to him, wrapping his arms around her curvy frame. "So you're not going to leave me?" He asked smoothly, and Calleigh looked up at him.  
  
"Not on your life, Lieutenant."  
  
He let out a low chuckle, and bent down to finally give her a kiss he had kept from her for so long.  
  
FIN...ISH 


End file.
